In Iraq the U.S. Army has undertaken counterinsurgency, a type of activity it thought it had left behind with the end of the Cold War. In the long war against terror, counterinsurgency will remain a central element of American national security policy so it is important to assess the strategic implications of the Iraq campaign.

The United States has a core national interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East as well as containing or eliminating threats emanating from that region. Yet, there is often disagreement on the ways to best achieve these goals.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the topic of Russian defense policy has not received great attention. The rebuilding of Russian military strength is a high priority of President Vladimir Putin, and one to which he and his subordinates have devoted considerable time and resources. Therefore, inattention to Russian defense policy is unwise and even dangerous because it causes us to overlook potentially major changes not only in Russian policy, but in international affairs more generally.

This monograph demonstrates that Moscow, especially in the Putin era, has not been helpful with U.S. efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program. It also illustrates the dangers Moscow faces in pursuing such a pro-Iranian policy.

This monograph considers the issues of Iranian influence in Iraq, and its impact on continuing sectarian violence there. The situation has been further complicated by the post-2003 change in the Iraqi Shi'a community’s status, Iran’s development of a nuclear program, and international efforts to contain that program.

Since 2002 Russia has embarked upon a relationship of partnership with NATO, but close examination of this partnership shows an enormous amount of Rusisan ambivalence and, indeed, growing resistance to many of NATO’s activities and programs. This growing ambivalence, and even estrangement, reflects both domestic Rusisan trends and the deterioration of East-West security ties.

Ukraine’s ability to contribute to the U.S.-led war on terror through the provision of niche capabilities such as peacekeeping troops is contingent on successful military transformation, democratic consolidation, and good relations with neighbors. However, a more democratic Ukraine with democratically controlled armed forces might be less willing and able to deploy peacekeeping troops into a complex theatre of operation.

In this era of American predominance, alliances are more compelling than ever. The United States needs allies to generate capabilities that amplify its power, create a basis of legitimacy for the exercise of its power, avert impulses to counterbalance its power, and steer partners away from strategic apathy or excessive self-reliance.

Limitations on the ability of the U.S. military to innovate and transform to deal with irregular warfare pose policy and strategy dilemmas. The best way to deal with these dilemmas is to establish a new kind of interagency organization devoted to irregular warfare and an irregular warfare organization within DoD.

The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College (USAWC); Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada; and the Canadian Land Forces Doctrine and Training System cosponsored a colloquium at Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on June 21-23, 2006.

Since 1998, Pyongyang's foremost policy has been declared as "military-first." Military leaders in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are very powerful and influential figures. Who are they? What kind of power and influence do these leaders wield, and how do they exert it? How do KPA leaders interact with dictator Kim Jong Il and their civilian counterparts?

This collection of essays written by students enrolled in the U.S. Army War College Advanced Strategic Art Program (ASAP) reflects the development of their strategic thought applied to a wide range of contemporary issues based in theory, doctrine, strategy and history.

What changes, if any, are there in U.S. and European defense and foreign policy in the aftermath of the War in Iraq, particularly in light of a new consensus for coordinating U.S. and European military strategy, planning and operational activities. This conference report examines key dimensions of this relationship, which has major implications for global as well as regional security.

This paper describes ARFORGEN, discusses some of its critical assumptions related to reserve component (RC) units, and explains what changes are required at the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of the Army (DA), and the individual RC levels so that the Army can integrate its RC units fully into ARFORGEN. The paper details needed changes at both the institutional and operational level at DA and DoD.

The author describes the "String of Pearls" as the manifestation of China's rising geopolitical influence through efforts to increase access to ports and airfields, develop special diplomatic relationships, and modernize military forces that extend from the South China Sea through the Strait of Malacca, across the Indian Ocean, and on to the Arabian Gulf. The monograph examines the "String of Pearls" as an evolving maritime component of China's national strategy, implications for the U.S.-China relationship, and broader U.S. policy implications for the entire region.

In today’s dynamic strategic environment, political changes can become challenges very quickly. Any list of key strategic issues must, therefore, include the broadest array of regional and functional concerns. This is a catalogue of significant issues, arranged as potential research topics, of concern to U.S. policymakers. As such, the KSIL is a ready source of topics that members of the defense community and academia can use to focus their research efforts.

Long discounted by arms control critics, traditional nonproliferation efforts now are undergoing urgent review and reconsideration even by their supporters. Why? In large part, because the current crop of nonproliferation understandings are ill-suited to check the spread of emerging long-range missile, biological, and nuclear technologies.

The United States is so culturally blind by virtue of its successful “New World” experience of assimilating foreign cultures that it is unable to recognize the possibility that there are viable competing ideologies to American ideals for the world, including the Islamic world, China, and Latin America. If the United States were more “street smart” on the world scene, it could better identify nuanced subtleties and better leverage allies, who, in turn, are better positioned to further American ideals abroad.

This edition of the U. S. Army War College Guide to National Security Policy and Strategy reflects both the method and manner the college uses to teach strategy formulation to America’s future senior leaders. It contains essays on the general security environment, strategic thought and formulation, the elements of national power, the national security policymaking process in the United States, and selected strategic issues.

In his 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush proclaimed that "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world." The plan he then proposed is step one in weaning America from its addiction, and is a necessary but not fully sufficient step to ensuring our future national security through Middle East Oil independence.

The author explores the effectiveness and risks of preventive attacks intended to combat the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as compared to other nonproliferation policy options. He concludes that preventive attacks are generally less effective, more dangerous, and more costly than other nonproliferation policy options.

How serious is the threat posed by terrorist groups operating from failed states in Africa? This monograph asserts that the threat is very serious indeed, and presents alternative U.S. strategies to confront terrorist groups using failed states as sanctuaries and platforms for attacks on America and its partners.

The Proliferation Security Initiative is a multinational activity launched in 2003 to enable the United States and like-minded countries to interdict the flow of weapons of mass destruction. The author addresses some of the legal, political and strategic issues raised by this ambitious and timely initiative.

The Latin American and Caribbean Center of Florida International University, the U.S. Southern Command, and the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College held the ninth in a series of major annual conferences dealing with security and defense matters in the Western Hemisphere on February 1-3, 2006, in Miami, Florida.

Joint doctrine is currently undergoing some potentially major revisions. The author asks the doctrine community to take a step back from the process of change and take a hard look at the differences between the original concepts and the proposed revisions.

North Korea is both a paradox and an enigma because on one hand, it appears to be a very powerful state—possessing the world's fourth largest armed forces, a sizeable arsenal of ballistic missiles, and a worrying nuclear program—but on the other, it is an economic basket case in terms of agricultural output, industrial production, and foreign trade exports.

Although much of the controversy over the extent to which U.S. security policy ought to be constrained by multilateralism revolves around the role of the UN, the focus of this monograph is on the future of NATO.

The Malaya and Cyprus insurgencies provide a dramatic contrast to the issue of training local security forces. In Malaya, the British developed a very successful strategy for training the Malayan Police and army. In Cyprus, the British strategy for building and training local security forces generally was ineffective.

Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) was the most widely used, and abused, acronym in the U.S. defense community in the 1990s. Subsequently, transformation has superseded it as the preferred term of art. For the better part of 2 decades, American defense professionals have been excited by the prospect of effecting a revolutionary change in the conduct and character of warfare.

Strategy is often used as a general term for a plan, a concept, a course of action, or a "vision" of the direction in which to proceed at the personal, organizational, and governmental—local, state, or federal—levels. Such casual use of the term reduces strategy to just a good idea without the necessary underlying thought or development. What is the true meaning of strategy?

In the Age of Information, the primary source of National Power is information that has been converted into actionable intelligence or usable knowledge. Information Operations is the critical ingredient in early warning, peacekeeping, stabilization & reconstruction, and homeland defense.

Has the Global War on Terror extinguished Islamic terrorism or given rise to a "hundred Osamas"? The discourse and strategies of the "new jihad" have evolved over three decades, and more finely honed counterstrategies and a better understanding of the ongoing Islamic revival are needed to defeat these enemies.

After the 9/11 attacks on the United States, homeland defense became the primary issue in U.S. defense policy. It was clear that homeland defense would have to become a trilateral continental issue and include Canada and Mexico.